Then the Electricity

Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash

It’s one of those days when

you’re a former ’90s kid
back home for the first time
in a long time,
eating at the old corner pizza shop
for the first time
in a long time.

You’re on your way to visit
your father’s grave,
and you’ve just left
your sick sister’s house,

with its windows rotted out of its walls
and rats piled up in its bathroom closets.

You’re thinking about things gone forever
and things soon to be gone,

and then, just then,
Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter”
hits the pizza shop speakers.

A jolt rocks your nerves,
and you start eating faster
trying to finish up your slice
and escape outside,

before you give your goddamn hometown
something you never gave it the satisfaction of before:

tears.

Copyright 2019 Jeff Suwak

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